WGSN Alternative Holiday Gift Guide 2017: Day Twelve

The holiday season is all about gifts. But this year we’ve seen the consumer become a little more discerning when it comes to purchase power. Brand values have never been so important to the consumer. So, we’ve launched our annual WGSN gift guide, but this year there’s a twist. The gift guide will be focused on cool products that give back and lovely companies with heartwarming values.

We’ve asked the question on this blog before about whether shopping for luxury can be truly charitable? Well, fashion company BOTTLETOP is committed to trying. The brand makes ethical and sustainable luxury bags (created from Amazon Zero Deforestation leather) and crafted by local craftsmen and women in developing countries (from hand weaved designs in Kenya to ateliers in Bahia, Brazil).

Better yet, the brand opened their first flagship store at 84 Regent Street in London earlier this month. The place was created with large-scale 3D printing technology, and shows how the shop floor can be re-imagined through zero waste design. The store interior was made using REFLOW filament, which is made entirely from plastic waste.

BOTTLETOP Co-Founder Oliver Wayman said: “For the first time, visitors to our store will be able to witness the sustainable use of this technology first hand while shopping the BOTTLETOP collection and learning about the mission of the brand. This is so exciting for us as our customers can watch the transformation of the store, from a clean exhibition space to an up-cycled ecosystem. Overhead hangs our trademark metal canopy, with thousands of cans embedded in to a 3D printed lattice structure suspended from the ceiling, which is a play on the concept of negative space, inspired by the British contemporary artist Rachel Whiteread. We might even install the original can sculpture that Rachel created for BOTTLETOP in the store.”